Politics and Culture

December 12, 2017

A movement fueled by rage and religion and dedicated to violence

At the weekend, in Times Square, pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered to protest Trump's decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem. They made their aims quite clear. Liel Leibovitz:

“With spirit and blood we’ll redeem al Aqsa!” shout the hundreds huddled under the neon arch that is the 42nd Street subway entrance. “There is only one solution, Intifada revolution!” And then, to top off the frenzy of religious hatred and incitement: “Jews, remember Khaybar, the army of Muhammad is returning.” Khaybar, to anyone not well-versed in Islamist eschatology, is an oasis not far from Medina where, in 628 CE, Muslim armies slaughtered and subdued the Jews. Finally, as the demonstration was reaching its peak, the crowd took simply to shouting “Intifada,” the name given to the Palestinian campaign of violence which has murdered thousands of Israelis in the last three decades.

If you still had any doubts about what the BDS crowd really wants, wonder no more. This is not a human rights campaign. This is not a movement interested in coexistence or committed to any of the values liberalism holds dear. And this is not a movement, as the Khaybar chants make clear, that bothers with any meaningful distinctions between Israelis and Jews. This is a movement fueled by rage and religion and dedicated to violence. And this weekend, it celebrated its bigotry in the open, in the heart of America’s most robust Jewish city: